Twyford based theatre group Enchanted Players will be performing Shakespeare’s magical comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the open air from 4pm, and entry is free.

The Enchanted Players theatre company is performing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Howard Palmer Gardens in Wokingham.

A glittering group of fairies will be making mischief in a Wokingham park this weekend as part of a new outdoor theatre project.

Wokingham Town Council has teamed up with Top-Drawer Management to host the town’s first Theatre in the Park event at the newly refurbished Howard Palmer Gardens on Sunday, August 31.

Twyford based theatre group Enchanted Players will be performing Shakespeare’s magical comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the open air from 4pm, and entry is free.

Victoria Ruskin, founder of The Enchanted Players, said: “Fairies seem to be more popular than ever so it seemed apt to create a show about them. They are visually stunning and because we are outside, the sunset creates a beautiful backdrop.

“Costumes are based on the colour wheel and each character is represented by a colour personifying his or her personality.”

The Enchanted Players theatre company is performing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Howard Palmer Gardens in Wokingham.

The story follows four Athenian lovers who find themselves falling for unlikely partners when a group of fairies make mischief with love potions in the woods.

Meanwhile a team of amateur actors, The Mechanicals, find their show rehearsals disrupted by the Queen of the fairies who falls in love with their most eccentric actor.

The Enchanted Players, who have previously performed at the Reading Fringe Festival and around Wokingham, will be ensuring there is plenty of magic and hilarity for audiences on Sunday.

The Theatre in the Park event is a project Wokingham Town Council has been eager to host since the £70,000 refurbishment of Howard Palmer Gardens in May this year. “We have been working hard to get something going in the town for a long time and I think it’s marvellous,” said Wokingham Town councillor Gwyneth Hewetson.

“When Howard Palmer Gardens was refurbished that meant we had a base. It’s almost like a little outdoor theatre there.

“We used the space for music for the opening of the gardens and hoped there would be a theatre performance then but that fell by the wayside so the intention has always been to replicate that and do something like that again later.

“Howard Palmer Gardens is different to anywhere else in town so we wanted to treat it a bit differently and there are two areas where we can put on music and have little events and there’s the big grassy area which we can use for theatre or whatever. But you can move around in the space too and that’s what we were thinking, we needed to be able to accommodate different people and events.”

Cllr Hewetson said there were hopes to hold more outdoor performances across the town if the first event is a success and said it’s a great way to introduce children to the theatre.

She said: “We would like to make it a regular event if it goes down well.

“Children will go to it and they won’t feel like they’re going to see a Shakespeare piece. It’s great to introduce them to something where they can sit in the park with a picnic and watch what’s going on.

“Outdoor theatre has a nice atmosphere, you go there and it feels special.

“If you do something outside it takes away the formality of the theatre so it makes it much more family orientated and accessible.”

The performance will run from 4pm-6.30pm. Entry is free, although donations are welcome and will go towards future entertainment in the gardens. People are invited to bring picnics (no glass) and chairs.